


overwhelming adversaries

by aceanx



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-20
Updated: 2012-08-20
Packaged: 2017-11-12 13:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceanx/pseuds/aceanx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will and Don talk and realize they are both in similar situations</p>
            </blockquote>





	overwhelming adversaries

He ends up in Will’s office after the breakup. He doesn’t really know why, as he and Will have always butted heads about things but he sits in his old boss’ office, waiting for him to get back from wherever the hell he is right now. He crosses his legs at least six times before leaving them uncrossed and he brings his hands to his lap, folds them, places them on the desk and finally leaves them on his knees. He glances toward the door, wondering if Will might come back soon before he loses his nerve. 

“This is a bad idea,” he thinks to himself but he stays seated. It feels like forever when Will finally opens his door, not even glancing at him as he grabs his coat. It’s completely silent for a good minute. Don almost considers just leaving and pretending he never came when Will finally speaks. 

“Follow me,” he states without as much as a glance. Don stands up without a word and follows Will out the door. He shoves his hands in his jacket pocket, keeping his eyes facing forward. If he looks back, he knows that he’ll see Maggie crying on Jim’s shoulder and he’d rather not see that. Or maybe she’s not crying. Maybe she’s happy that she can now be with Jim without any worries of cheating. Don takes a deep breath but follows Will all the way to the outside balcony. It’s pretty nice outside. He’d also say that it’s quiet too, but this is New York. Nothing is ever quiet. He leans against the wall as he looks at Will, who reaches behind a pillar and grabs a big bottle of whiskey. Don frowns as Will finally looks at him.

“Mac won’t let me keep this in my office. She can sniff out alcohol from a mile away,” Will states as he opens the bottle and takes a gulp before reaching out to Don. He glances at it before taking it and drinking some himself. It burns his lungs for a split second, but it helps. He watches as Will takes out a cigarette and lights it before gazing out to the other buildings. Don’s never had a really personal conversation with Will before. Sure, there was that one conversation during the whole flower ordeal two weeks ago, but this is different. This is even more strange because of everything that Will’s gone through. And he and Maggie are broken up. That’s also new. Don closes his eyes for a moment as he grips the bottle tightly before taking a deep breath.

“Will, I-“

“Do you know what the minimum volume of whiskey is?” Will asks, interrupting Don. He frowns, glancing down at the bottle before back up at Will, who still hasn’t turned.

“I don’t know. Like, 25%?” Don asks. Will shakes his head before turning to face Don, his face sombre.

“No, it’s 40%, and that’s the minimum. Which means that one drink is equal to .02% of your blood alcohol content and three drinks is .09%, which is way over the limit of intoxication,” Will states dryly. He reaches over and grabs the whiskey out of Don’s hand. Unsure of where this conversation is going, Don allows him to take the bottle as he watches Will take a drag of his cigarette and then take a swing of the whiskey. It almost pains him to see Will do this. 

“And smoking while drinking is probably not the best idea, either,” Don decides to point out. To his surprise, Will laughs as he hands the bottle back to Don.

“Probably not, but it sure as hell helps with the pain.” Don takes another swig before straightening up, placing the bottle on the balcony ledge. He looks down at all the cars passing by and listens to the sounds of yelling, honking and screeching. “On our first anniversary, Mackenzie bought me a bottle of whiskey.” Don immediately glances at Will, who keeps his eyes trained on the building across the street. He seems to be deep in thought, probably a memory and he realizes how little he knows of Will in general. He’s only heard some stuff of Will and Mackenzie’s past relationship but he’s always been curious. But he doesn’t press as he waits for Will to speak. 

“She thought it would be cute for us to get drunk and have sex on a park bench. Luckily I talked her out of it but she still brought over that damn bottle of whiskey,” Will says lightly. He sighs as he takes another drag. Don feels a little uncomfortable but he won’t stop Will. This is the only time he’s heard him talk about his love life so he won’t ruin the moment. “We talked for most of that night while drinking. She admitted that she had no idea what to get for our first anniversary because she had never felt so strongly about a guy before. Not the best anniversary gift, but that night was memorable.”

“How?” Don asks before he can stop himself. Will side-eyes Don for a second before shrugging.

“We talked more than we ever had for our entire year of dating. I found out she had gotten a tattoo at the age of sixteen of her ex-boyfriend while drunk but then got it removed. She found out that I almost slept with my college professor to get a good grade,” Will admits, causing Don to gape at him. If he wasn’t feeling uncomfortable, he is now. Sharing has never been his strong suit, but Will continues, as if lost in a memory. “She’s the second girl I’ve ever loved. The first girl was in the seventh grade and I grew an unhappy crush on her for several years before I finally decided to move on, but Mac is also the last girl I have ever loved.”

Don shifts the whiskey bottle over to Will, who takes a sip out of it. “So that’s why you haven’t moved on? Because you still love her?” he asks. Will shakes his head, turning to face Don head on.

“I don’t love her anymore. At least, not in the way that I used to,” Will states but Don shakes his head. 

“But you still love her in a certain capacity,” Don corrects him. Will doesn’t say anything. He just shoves the bottle in Don’s hands before bringing the cigarette back to his lips. Don watches as the puff of smokes swirls up into the air and disappears. 

“Mac betrayed me, Don. Just like Maggie betrayed you-“ Will starts before Don interrupts.

“-Maggie did not betray me. She’s a great girl,” he defends but even he knows that it’s not true. Will glances at him curiously.

“Yes, she did. I may not be the most observant guy in the office but even I know how Maggie’s been throwing herself at Jim like a TMI reporter trying to get a gossip story,” Will responds but Don clenches the bottle tightly. 

“Maggie never went after Jim when we were together. Not even when we broke up.” He says this with force but all the other man can do is shake his head. Don responds by drinking some more whiskey. It feels good on his throat, now. It’s relaxing him. 

“She may have been loyal enough to not cheat, but did she ever hide her feelings?” Will asks. 

“I’ve asked her and she’s said no. Why would she have lied to me?” Don asks. He remembers asking Maggie about Jim and she had always she he was just a friend. But don’t most girls say that about guys that they like? Will leans against the ledge, waving his hand.

“Body language is key. Trust me, you get used to watching body language and ignoring words. Words mean nothing. A good reporter knows that people lie. The point is did you ever try to find out the truth, or did you just take Maggie for her word?” he asks. Don winces, almost wanting to correct Will on that he’s just an EP, but he bites his tongue as he lets it settle in. He keeps his mouth shut and walks toward the door. He pauses, though, and turns back. Will may be an ass, but he has a point. He never pushed Maggie on her feelings for Jim. He asked her once or twice and let it drop. 

“No,” he whispers. Will sighs as Don sits down against the wall, placing the whiskey gently on the ground. Will pauses before sitting next to him. 

“This whole Newsnight 2.0 has helped us professionally, but it hasn’t helped up personally. Your problems with Jim and my problems with Mackenzie- remember when you used to be my EP?” he seems to change his course of speech halfway through. Don nods, smiling a bit as he remembers his first day as his EP. He’s known Will for four years now, but had only worked closely with him for thirteen weeks a year and a half ago. 

“Yeah. I remember you basically handed me a list of what I could and could not do with you. Charlie even signed it at the bottom,” Don tells him. 

“You were the longest EP I had because nobody else could tolerate you. I almost didn’t want you hired because Mackenzie had given you your first job. But I’m glad I did. You were more competent than any of my previous EP’s combined,” Will says. Don smiles at that. He’s never heard a compliment so sincere from Will before, so it’s nice to finally hear it. 

“Thirteen weeks with you wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be,” Don finally admits but Will nods in agreement as he sips the whiskey. 

“Remember what I said to you on your first day as EP?” Will asks. Don frowns as he tries to remember. He focuses before nodding.

“Yeah, kind of. You said don’t let your personal life-“

“Affect your professional life. Those two things just don’t mix. They cause more harm than good,” Will says. He chuckles as he glances up at the sky. “But now look where we are. Mackenzie yells at me about our relationship every day and Maggie can’t stay focused long enough to successfully complete a task.”

“Yeah, I hear that she yells at Jim, who happens to also be her boss. I wouldn’t dare yell at you or even Charlie and call you a dumbass,” Don states, almost wanting to add ‘although I have thought about doing the same so many times.’ Will nods as he leans his head against the brick wall. Hearing that being said about Maggie before would have made him defend her immediately. But now? He swallows deeply as he pictures Maggie in his mind. She’s so happy but he knows now that it’s not because of him. He sees Jim slide up to Maggie and grabbing her, holding her, kissing her- it’s almost too much to bear. He grabs the bottle and stands up, feeling anger running through his veins. How could she do this to him? Breaking up with him over somebody else? Has she been leading him on the whole time? He glances through the glass door, seeing Maggie and Jim sitting together and he stops dead in his tracks. They’re everywhere, he thinks. In his mind, his memories, his dreams and now standing in the newsroom where he can see them and it’s too much to bear. With a cry, he hurls the whiskey bottle at the other wall, hearing it smash with the shards of glass falling to the ground. Will’s up on his feet now, putting a hand gently on Don’s shoulder. He twists away from Will, forcing back tears. He is not going to cry right here, right now. He won’t allow himself to be weak at work, especially if Maggie can act like nothing’s wrong. 

“Don,” Will says gently and it’s a tone he’s never heard from him before. It’s almost of concern, of worry. Don shakes his head, running a hand through his hair.

“No, no. I’m sorry. I just thought about her and I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about…them together and when I do, I just get angry and I don’t want- I don’t want to feel like this when she seems to have moved on in less than two days,” Don says. He takes another deep breath, watching the remnants of the whiskey running down the concrete wall.

“It’s hard, I know. You think you love the woman you’re dating, only to find out that you’re not the only one. It’s nice to think you are that one guy that she’ll love, but there’s always another. Whether it be a family member, a friend or another lover, it still hurts when you aren’t the center of her world,” Will states. Don can’t help but silently agree as he walks back to the ledge, looking down again. He remembers that he used to be terrified of heights as a kid. He even refused to get on a plane until the age of thirteen. But he’s faced his fear and now it’s not so scary. Right now, it’s actually relaxing. He feels the wind rush past his face and he closes his eyes, letting his other senses take over. He’s vaguely aware of Will coming to stand next to him, but he focuses on the wind blowing past his face. 

“When you were a kid, what superpower did you always wish to have?” Don asks suddenly, opening his eyes and looking at Will, who looks surprised by the question.

“Invisibility for a while, but then I wanted the power of super strength, to take down all the bullies and assholes in my neighbourhood,” Will admits, smiling a bit. Don smiles as he looks back out.

“When I was a kid, I wanted the power to stop time. I thought that if I could just stop everything for just a moment, that I would be able to appreciate the beauty of the world around. I also thought that stopping time would stop the negative emotions that I’ve felt. But then I realized that stopping time would just make me lonely, because I would be the only one to experience the beauty of the world and I couldn’t share it with anybody else,” Don says.

“Well, according to some comic books, you can unfreeze certain people to enjoy it with,” Will brings up but Don dismisses it. 

“But now? Now I’d like the power to fly. Being able to just take off into the night, no worries about falling or hitting rock bottom, that would be cool,” Don finishes. 

“So, you wish to be a bird,” Will states matter of factly but Don knows he’s just trying to crack a joke. He takes a deep breath before finally turning back to Will.

“How long did it take you to cry?” he asks. Will frowns before comprehension fills his face. This time, it’s Will who goes entirely silent as he straightens up and walks toward the wall with the broken glass. Don can still see the whiskey drying on the wall. 

“Do you know why I’ve kept Maggie around?” Will asks. Don shakes his head, noting the complete change of conversation but decides not to say anything. “It’s not because of her competency to do her job because there are times where she allows her emotions to get in the way of doing her job and it usually fucks us all up. And it’s definitely not because Mackenzie won’t let me fire anyone with me talking to her about it and her giving her approval.” Don nods slowly. 

“Well, she is the EP so she does have a say-“ Don starts before trailing off at Will’s glare. 

“It’s because she adds something to this newsroom. Now, I’m not quite sure what it is, whether it be her bumbling personality that allows us to lighten up in certain moments or if it’s her way of actually doing some good when she is competent enough, although we have Mac who has a mental breakdown every other day so I’ve probably just gotten used to crazy people. The point is, she’s been here for far too long to allow me to let go of her so easily. You know better than anyone that she is good at heart,” Will says and Don nods hesitantly, “and she’s a lot like Mackenzie, except younger, stupider and less experienced. But, like Mac, she’s part of this team. It took me a while to see that, but Mac keeping her on seems to have done us some good-“

“Why are you telling me this?” Don interrupts. He’s really not in the mood to hear praise about his now ex-girlfriend. He already feels upset hearing her name. 

“Because I’d like nothing more than to fire her so you wouldn’t have to see her and feel the hurt of her choosing another man, just like I’ve had to do with Mackenzie. But I can’t fire her,” Will states. Don scoffs a bit. Will takes another drag of his cigarette. 

“Ok, first of all Will, you and Mackenzie have been broken up for four years, so the hurt isn’t as strong as I’m feeling right now. Second of all, I work on the 10pm show so I don’t actually have to work with Maggie if I don’t want to. And third of all, not that I want her to get fired, but why can’t you? Like you said, she’s fucked up more times than anyone else on your team. You have perfectly capable reasons of getting rid of her,” Don asks. Will finally drops his cigarette, pressing his foot down on it and crunching it under his feet before walking up to Don. He faces him straight on and stand strong. Don squirms slightly under Will’s gaze.

“No matter how long it’s been since Mac and I have broken up, the hurt is still there. I avoided her at all costs for three years. I never dealt with it until she started working here. All those feelings I’ve bundled up have practically exploded in the last year. Bottling up your feelings and pretending that you’re ok with this is probably the stupidest idea to ever do. One day, you will just explode and you won’t be able to do a single thing to stop it. So firing Maggie would be the worst thing for you because one day, in a few months or a few years, you’ll cross paths with Maggie again, perhaps for work, and you’ll have to deal with those feelings now. So, in the long run, you better deal with your breakup with Maggie now and learn to work with her or else you’ll end up hating and resenting her forever.” 

Will pauses for a moment, letting Don soak up all of that. He almost crumbles under Will’s gaze but continues to stand strong. 

“Also, Mac cheated on me. Maggie never cheated on you-“

“-but she’s been thinking about Jim for the last year. And she left me for him,” Don points out.

“But that’s not cheating. Not that I’m saying it’s any better, but try having a girl cheat on you for six fucking months. That’s worse,” Will blatantly argues. “Firing Maggie would do no good for you. The mistake I made was not dealing with everything about my breakup with Mackenzie. We should have talked, but we didn’t and that destroyed both of us. But now we’re getting a chance to start over, to work out our issues but it’s been four years. Trust me when I say this; go talk to Maggie and work out your issues now. I’m not saying talk to her tonight, but do it soon, when you’re ready,” Will finishes. He pauses before looking at his watch. “You have a show to do in twenty minutes.”

Will begins walking toward the door but Don stops him.

“But how do you know if you’re ready to talk to the woman that you used to love?” Don asks. Will pauses, his hand on the door. He turns his head toward Don and his eyes are soft.

“Trust me Don, you’ll know.” He turns back to the door and opens it but before he steps inside, he says one more thing to leave Don in his thoughts.

“Two weeks. It took me two weeks to cry.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really had the inspiration from last episode, with the Don/Will scene. I’m a huge Don fan and I like Will, but I’m not a huge fan of Maggie/Jim, Maggie/Don or Will/Mackenzie. Nevertheless, I like the idea of Will and Don being friends, seeing as Will’s only friend is Charlie and I could see that Will has a mutual respect for Don, despite everything that went on in the first episode. They both seem to work together well, especially since Don isn’t even part of Will’s team anymore and Will’s also taken Don’s flowers to hide from Maggie. I also feel like they have similarities and Will respects Don, especially since Don is one of the rare few to stand up to Will. 
> 
> If you want more Newsroom fics, you can always ask me to write any pairing. I may not like the core couples much, but I’ll write for them if needed, but I’m more of a ensemble/friendship writer. So let me know what you want me to write and I might write it.


End file.
